Sandals Resorts International and the Government of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, on Monday, signed a commencement contract for the Beaches Resort, at the former Buccament Bay Resort.
Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves, Minister of Tourism Cecil Mc Kie, and Deputy Chairman of Sandals, Adam Stewart signed the contract in the presence of Deputy Prime Minister Sir Louis Straker, Minister of Finance Camillo Gonsalves, Sandal CEO Gebhard Rainer and other Sandals and government officials in Kingstown.
Stewart said their team left SVG on a high after their July visit, when another agreement was signed.
He said the resort’s design will be inclusive on every level of the development that everything at this point is still conceptual, and that interior designs are yet to be finalised.
Stewart explained that Sandals’ SVG resort will be the first of their chains to debut several features, including, glamping.
“Glamping” is a portmanteau of “glamorous” and “camping”, and describes a style of camping with amenities and, in some cases, resort-style services not usually associated with “traditional” camping.
He said these types of accommodation will be located on the backside of the property and will feature the most premium rooms. There will also be spa treatment rooms along the river, of which, Stewart said provides a “beautiful opportunity”.
According to Stewart, the Sandals SVG Resort construction is scheduled to commence in April 2021.
About 1,000 workers will be employed at the peak of construction and the proposed opening date is December 2022.
He thanked the prime minister and his team for “facilitating us today” at the meeting, which raised concerns about whether the nation’s COVID-19 protocols were broken to facilitate the talks.
“We felt that we’ve achieved. We still have a lot of details to go through but we’re well on the way now. Finance is in place for the development, our wider team knows about it. We’re in the press constantly… St. Vincent is the future. And that will carry on until we really ramp it up 6 months to opening. It’s gonna be amazing. I want you to rest assured that we’re gonna build something here that is second to none anywhere in this part of the world,” Stewart said.
Gonsalves described the master plan for the resort as “good stuff”, adding that he is “looking forward to the boots on the ground in April,” a reference to commencement of construction work.
The proposed Beaches Resort will accommodate 1,200 guests. It will boast an over water chapel, a La Soufriere volcano water park, bowling alley, conference centre with 300 seating capacity, Pirates of the Caribbean kids feature, walking and BMX trails, food court, restaurants, night club, and sporting facilities, among others.
Let’s hope which ever party is in power fully supports this venture.
How many times have we heard that the money is there? Maybe it is, maybe it isn’t, but even if it is, people change thier minds and may decide to put it elsewhere, or a pandemic occurs, or…
“Don’t count your chickens before they hatch!”
Why would anyone go into the resort business when most airlines and so much more concerning tourism has gone bankrupt, The industry is so uncertain and Bill and Melinda Gates are happily indicating another and far worse pandemic is on the way:
Is the finance in place to pay out standing wages to former employees?
The money is all there… Haven’t we heard that many times before?
Tony the employees get nothing because they were not included in the overall scheme by the comrade.
Did they or did they not pay the balance of the money, yes or no? We know how the comrades says things which sound right but mean nothing, even the opposite. When we are told financing is in place, what place is that? Have they paid in full, yes or no.
Hmm, I own a property on there.
No mention of what us owners will get paid